Sausage, Apple, Mushroom, and Walnut Stuffing - Stuffing Challenge Runner Up

Stuffing has recently become my favorite dish at Thanksgiving.  I used to hate it.  I think I was insane as a child.  Last year I had my first LA Thanksgiving and was very grateful for everything that day brought, including an Apple, Sausage, Walnut and Raisin stuffing.  I was a bit weary at first when I helped make this dish, but as soon as it came out of the oven it took all of my strength not to eat it all before we even brought it to the feast.

Out of every type of food on our table that day, I was surprised to find that I liked this new kind of stuffing the best.  It was because of that miracle that I knew this year I had to make it, but with a few twists.  However, I also couldn't forget that I was sad I wasn't having my mom's traditional stuffing last year.  What was a girl to do?  I decided that a "Stuffing-Off" was in order and made half amounts of both kinds of stuffing and let the crowd choose their favorite.  

Sadly, my personal favorite came in second, with only me and one other person choosing this recipe over the other, but tradition is tradition for a reason.  However, I think the new tradition will have to be both kinds of stuffing every year.  

Even though it is the runner up, below is the full amount for my favorite kind of stuffing.  (I only made half for our dinner)

Sausage, Apple, Mushroom, and Walnut Stuffing

Serving Size: 10-12 Servings

Ingredients:

24 oz of Day Old Bread

2 Tbsp of Butter

2 cups of chopped Onions

2 cups of chopped Celery

1 pound of Italian Sausage

2 packages of Mushrooms (white or portabella)

2-3 medium Apples, chopped (I used Green Dragon Apples)

3 cloves of Garlic, minced

2 tsp of dried Thyme

2 tsp of dried Sage

1 cup of Walnuts

1 1/2 cups of Apple Cider

2 cups of Chicken Broth

Directions:

Break up the bread into 1 inch pieces and let sit out over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt butter and saute onions and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.

In a separate pan cook the sausage, garlic and mushrooms until fully cooked.

Combine all of the ingredients except for the liquids in a large baking dish.

Slowly pour the apple cider over the stuffing allowing the bread to soak it up.  Finally, slowly add enough chicken broth to fully saturate the bread.  It should be wet, but not dripping.

Cover with tinfoil and bake for about an hour or until the stuffing reaches 165 degrees.  For the last 10-15 minutes, uncover and allow to brown on top.